Falcons take flight at Maroon and White night

A rewarding return season to sports ended with an award-winning night for a pair of graduating Falcons.

Multi-sport athlete Beynon Gwilliam and volleyball star Nalaina Funk were named the Grade 12 athletes of the year at the Foothills Composite Falcons’ Maroon and White Night on June 20.

“The three other finalists, Jon Stephan, Cam and Abe Wallace, were also deserving of the award and I’m definitely grateful to have received it,” Gwilliam said. “For me, it’s that I was able to work hard through all the sports I played and provide academic excellence throughout the year.

“Being able to play on those teams with my teammates through basketball, badminton, track and baseball really meant a lot.”

Gwilliam, the lone returning varsity basketball player from the 2019-20 season, enjoyed the opportunity to lead and play for his dad, stalwart Falcons head coach Amron Gwilliam, he added.

“It was great to be able to come back and play sports,” he said. “Playing basketball for the first time in two years after our zone final in 2020 got cancelled, was definitely great.

“It was hard having a new group of guys, new teammates that haven’t played at the varsity level, but it was awesome to lead them, play with them and watch them grow and by the end of the year it was our definitely our strongest team and best performances.”

This season also marked Gwilliam’s first foray into badminton, a sport the athlete has always enjoyed in a more recreational sense.

Getting on the diamond for the Falcons was also a boon, after growing up with the sport at the club level. Foothills made it to provincials and was one win away from a spot in the final.

Of course, that comes with all of the joys of a southern Alberta spring.

“Being able to play through it and have wonderful teammates, wonderful coaches, means a lot,” he said. “One of the funniest things is we were up by Frank Slide and it was super cold, super windy and one of the kids' parents brought a fire into the dugout for us to stay warm.

“Being able to huddle with the guys, talk with them and have fun through the cold was great.”

Track and field represented an opportunity to close out high school athletics with a fun, diverse team, he added.

After three years with the Foothills Composite community, Gwilliam said he has mixed feelings on moving onto the next stage.

In the fall, he will begin his engineering studies at the University of Calgary.

“Moving on is going to be tough,” he said. “I’m excited to see what the future brings and I won’t be too far and will definitely be able to come home and cheer on and watch previous teammates throughout the rest of their athletics lives.”

The top female athlete of the year made her mark on the court for the Falcons.

Funk, a powerful outside hitter, helped lead the Falcons to the quarterfinal round of volleyball provincials after taking home the league and zone titles.

“It was absolutely incredible, especially with such an amazing group of girls,” Funk said. “We were actually able to win zones, win our league and make a mark on our season which I think really made up for not being able to play in Grade 11.

“We had a lot height on our side so that was easy for putting up an offence, but I also think most of the girls on the team were always hitting the floor and putting every single ounce of effort into each ball.

“It was incredible to see.”

Funk, a co-MVP of the volleyball squad along with Grace Baker, said she loved the opportunity to be a leader.

“It was nice to see the hard work and being captain of the volleyball team really paid off,” Funk said. “And I was really grateful for the reward.

“I’m super close with everybody on the team so it was really nice to just be able to lead those girls. To make play calls and all that good stuff to bring the success up and have them execute it.

“I just had such an amazing year with them.”

In the fall, Funk will be taking her talents to West Virginia as a student-athlete at the NCAA Division II level with the Glenville State University Pioneers.

“I knew that I wanted to play post-secondary and NCAA was always something in the back of my mind,” she said. “I talked to a couple of coaches and was set on going to West Virginia because I took a trip down there and it was absolutely beautiful and the girls are so nice and I felt like I really fit into that group of people.”

Funk, a fine arts student, will be pursuing a career in art therapy with her academics focused on psychology and art in the Mountain State.

“I’ve always loved painting and drawing,” she said. “And my art teacher came to me and said, ‘Do you think you would ever pursue it as a career?’ I hadn’t thought about it and then he gave me the option of art therapy.

“That clicked with me, that’s exactly what I want to do.”

Basketball star Trista Thorn and rugby and track athlete Davina Paradis were the other finalists for top athletes among the graduating class.

“It’s definitely really sad and people aren’t kidding when they say it goes by with the blink of an eye,” said Funk on moving on to post-secondary. “It went by so fast and I’m just excited for new opportunities and, most importantly, meeting new people.”

Multi-sport athletes Danielle Linkletter and Bergan Hall earned the top athlete recognition at the Grade 11 level.

Linkletter played varsity basketball, track and field and junior varsity volleyball. Hall was the co-MVP of the junior varsity basketball team and played varsity volleyball and baseball for the Falcons.

The Grade 10 athletes of the year were Ella Watkins and Jed Rodriguez.

Watkins earned minutes as a freshman on the varsity basketball team and played junior varsity volleyball while Rodriguez impressed with Foothills’ young football squad, including time spent at quarterback, and competed in track.

 

Award winners

Varsity girls basketball

MVP – Trista Thorn

Falcon Heart and Hustle — Jorja Carlson

Coaches Award — Faith Hunter

Varsity boys basketball

MVP — Beynon Gwilliam

Most Improved — Tyler Olson

Most Inspirational — Ben Stephan

Junior varsity girls basketball

MVP — Rylee David

Most Improved — Abnoor Chatth

Falcon Award — Ava Sheen/Hannah Peters

Junior varsity boys basketball

MVP — Van Kerrison/Bergan Hall

Most Improved — Cache Perrett

Falcon Award — Ki Williams

Varsity girls volleyball

MVP  — Nalaina Funk/Grace Baker

Most Improved — Nyah Ulmer

Coaches Award — Sofia Janzen

Varsity boys volleyball

MVP — Ryker Hutchinson

Most Improved — Benjamin Davidson

Falcon Award — Nicholi Noseworthy

Junior varsity girls volleyball

MVP — Breckyn Bahr

Most Improved — Katie Foss

Falcon Award — Ashlyn Ham

Junior varsity boys volleyball

MVP — Eric Hutchinson

Most Improved — Caleb Hudson

Falcon Award — Gabriel Rahn

Girls soccer

MVP — Skye Chubak

Most Improved — Hannah Peters

Falcon Award — Megan Hunter

Boys soccer

MVP — George Smith

Most Improved — Thierry Leblanc

Spirit Award — Luis Guerrero

Girls rugby

MVP — Grace Eagleton

Most Improved — Davina Paradis

Falcon Award — Hannah Lyons

Boys rugby

Forwards MVP — Jon Stephan

Backs MVP — Kolby Fredriksen

Most Improved — Armitesh Nair

Falcon Award — Garyn Zerk

Cross country

Female Overall — Sydney Neukom

Male Overall — Josh Heuver

Falcon Award — Jordan Harrison

Track and field

Female Overall — Sydney Neukom

Male Overall — Josh Heuver/Ryden Thomas

Falcon Award — Danielle Linkletter/Jonah Waldner

Badminton

Male MVP — Cam Wallace/Abe Wallace

Female MVP — Sydney Neukom/Maya Neukom

Baseball

Cy Young pitcher — Hogan Holditch

Gold Glove — Adam Rowland

Silver Slugger — Avery Greig

Golf

MVP — Bo Billehaug

Football

MVP — Trey Peacock

Top Lineman — Cam Wallace/Abe Wallace

Top Offensive Player — Jonah Waldner

Top Defensive Player — Borden Giesbrecht

Offensive Rookie of the Year — Josh Flight

Defensive Rookie of the Year — Rylan Neish

Special Teams Player of the Year — Derek Boisvert